Great Products Consulting

Tag: developers

  • What’s the difference between Web Design and Web Development?

    What’s the difference between Web Design and Web Development?

    Do you know the difference between web design and web development? I often see people looking for recommendations for one or the other, but did you know that when you’re building an online platform or mobile app, you might actually need both?

    Traditionally, these two disciplines were quite separate and distinct. However, over the years, the line between the two has been blurred.  In this article, I’ll talk about both of these terms, and how they might impact your product development project.

    Web Design

    As it implies, web design primarily looks at how the site will look. Think colours, fonts, images – the general look and feel. It also considers the usability of the site. However, web design is now also so much more – which is where the confusion occurs.

    Web designers can also build websites. This often includes the marketing-focused websites that we all use for our businesses. The ones that explain who we are and what we do – these are called “static websites”. They can do this with the help of website platforms (or content management systems) like Wordpress and Squarespace, which usually have drag and drop website builders. These are further enhanced by “themes” that are essentially templates of “pre-built” websites. These allow designers to use their design skills to craft a web page for you.

    To even further extend the power of web designers, are “plug-ins” or “apps” that are essentially pre-built tools, which interact with the website to give it extra functionality. They allow you collect email addresses, and send them to your email marketing or CRM tool. They can also be as sophisticated as allowing you to have a membership section or accepting payments.

    A good web designer will also have some SEO skills as well. As a marketing tool, your static website should be easy to find through search-engines.

    Web Development

    Even with the increase in the scope of work that a web designer can cover, there are still limitations to what they can do – unless they really learn how to code. While most web designers will be able to do some front-end coding (using HTML and CSS), these programming languages focus on how things look on the screen. In order to do more complex things – you need a web developer. 

    Web developers have a different skill set. They can build a much more dynamic website that can capture information, store it, and do something with it. Developers can build applications that allow you to move and manipulate objects. All of the website builders, themes and plugins were built by developers.  This means that web developers are in a much better position to build a more specialised platform; with unique or specific features.

    Why do you need both?

    As you can see web designers and web developers do very different things. While they can both build you a website, it depends on what kind of website you want.    

    While a web developer can build you a static website, it might not look very good. This is not what developers are good at. However, if you want to introduce automation to your business, or to extend your business offerings through an online platform, then a developer is more likely to be able to help you.

    If you’re building a new online platform that you want to market and sell as a product, then you’ll probably need both. A web developer will build your platform – with all of the screens and components that you need to give you the features that you want. Meanwhile, the web designer will create the static website that you need to market your platform.

    But there’s more…

    Unless your web developer has some interface design (UI) and user experiences (UX) skills, you’ll also need one or more people to make your platform look nice, and to make it user-friendly. While, a web designer might be able to create a visual design for your platform, they may not have the skills and experience needed to design the user experience.

    The next time you’re thinking about who you need to turn your idea into a product, along with UI and UX designers – consider both web designers and web developers.  If you’re very lucky, you might find a superstar that has all of the skills outlined in this article! 

    Looking for a developer?
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  • Why you shouldn’t always rely on a recommendation

    Why you shouldn’t always rely on a recommendation

    Getting a recommendation from a friend or an acquaintance is a great way to find people or things – a plumber, a builder, a lawyer, a restaurant, a product, etc. Whatever you need, someone out there has a recommendation for you. In a previous article, I talked about using referrals to find a developer, and in today’s article, I’m going expand on why you shouldn’t always rely on those recommendations – especially when money is involved. When you’re building a platform or mobile app, you need people and tools to make it real, so you need some way to find these things. This article will talk mostly about people, as it’s a lot harder to ditch them when things go wrong – that’s what makes relying on those recommendations a bit trickier.

    Not all recommendations are created equal

    The first thing to remember is that not all recommendations are created equal. It depends on where the recommendation comes from. If you ask your partner or best friend, chances are, the recommendation is going to be fairly reliable. There’s a lot at stake for the person making the recommendation. They’re not going to recommend a dud – your personal relationship is at stake. If you rely on recommendations from online groups and forums where you don’t know the person, how good can that recommendation be?

    However, knowing someone personally doesn’t guarantee success. What you know of someone personally is very different from knowing him or her in a professional capacity. I’ve talked to so many people who hired developers based on personal relationships – and most didn’t work out.

    The next thing to note is that the recommendation may not be right for you. Imagine a friend tells you about this great restaurant – “you have to go there!” she says. “The food is great, the service is great, and they do really good cocktails”. Sounds good right? You go to the restaurant, and you don’t like the food. It’s expensive for what you get, and you have a really bad waiter.  So, it happens – not all recommendations turn out the way you expect.

    That’s the risk with recommendations. It’s subjective. What worked for someone else, may not work for you. There are many reasons for this – experience in different areas, size of the project, different services/tasks required, different expectations, conflicting personalities, etc. The list is endless. So, while a recommendation is a helpful, it may not be your holy grail.

    So, what can you do to make sure the recommendation is a good one?

    Heard of the saying “Buyer beware”? Well, the same applies when you get a recommendation.

    As with anything in life, researching the alternatives and doing some due diligence is key. Of course, the amount of effort you take to do this depends on how big a cost you’re looking at. If you buy something for $5 and it doesn’t work, then the risk of not doing any research is low. However, if you’re looking at spending at least $10K with a developer (often more), then it’s probably worth taking some time to see if it’s a good fit.

    Even though you’ve received a recommendation, you still need to check them out. Look at their website – do you like how it looks? See if they have examples or case studies of work that they’ve done – is it comparable to what you’re trying to do? Search for reviews. Look at their social media pages. Interview them. Get references and contact them. Basically, you need to apply the same due diligence as if you were hiring someone that didn’t come from a referral.

    Often friends or relatives will develop platforms and apps on top of their day jobs, so it’s a little bit trickier. They won’t have websites or past references to guide you. In this case, you might look at their professional background on LinkedIn. Does what they’re doing in their day job look anything like what you want them to do? How much do you trust them to do the right thing for your business?

    In many cases, it might be better to look at a few recommendations and make a decision between them. This has the added advantage of allowing you to see how different people and companies do things, so you can get a feel for what works best for you. You’ll also get to compare prices, and see what approach they’re recommending.

    Now what?

    A recommendation is a great place to start when looking for people and things. They can save you hours of hunting around, which cannot be underestimated. The lesson here is to approach with caution.

    Recommendations should only be about saving time on that first step of finding a shortlist of people to evaluate. They shouldn’t be a short cut for the whole hiring process. Given the importance of finding the right developer for your project, don’t rely blindly on recommendations. Consider the source and do your own checking.

    If you want a step-by-step checklist for hiring a developer and for turning your good idea into a great product, then my Idea to Launch Checklist is your plain-English guide to getting there. It’s available now for only $24. Click here to learn more.

  • What are your options for hiring a developer?

    What are your options for hiring a developer?

    You’ve got an idea for a web platform or mobile app that you’ve decided to turn into a real product. You’ve documented what you want the product to do and you may have even drawn up some screens. So, now you need someone to make your idea into a living, breathing product. Along with figuring out how to brief a developer, hiring a developer is somewhere near the top of the list of challenges when building a web platform or mobile app. It’s such an important decision to make, but where do you start?

    How do developers work?

    The first thing is to understand the structure of the development industry. Developers can work via different arrangements:

    1. As an employee – where they work for you either in a permanent role or via a fixed-term contract
    2. As a freelancer (or contractor) – either hired by you directly or via an agency/recruitment firm; with the agency performing a mainly administrative role (e.g. billing, payroll, etc) and charging a percentage of the fee paid for the freelancer
    3. As an agency – where the agency is an outsourcing partner; offering a variety of services related to developing apps

     As a new business, you do have a few additional options:

    1. Find a “technical” co-founder – someone who will build, operate and enhance your product for you in exchange for some equity in your business
    2. Apply for an accelerator – where some of these provide development skills and business guidance in exchange for some equity in your business

    So, which one is right for you?

    There’s a lot to weigh up here and it’s not a decision to take lightly. Some considerations include:

    • How much control do you want to have in your company?  The more equity you give away, the less control you have.
    • What’s your budget?  Some options are cheaper for you than others.
    • How much do you want to be “involved” in the technical building of your app? Similar to the budget question, the more involved you want to be, the cheaper it will be.
    • What roles do you need to fill? If you need different skills to make your idea a reality, some options will act as a “one-stop-shop” for all of your development needs. 

    While these are the obvious questions, there are a few other considerations to factor in.

    What are your ultimate goals for the platform or app?

    This is an important question to ask yourself as this affects the type of developer you look for. Are you building an app to sell out at a future stage? Or are you in it to create an ongoing stream of income for yourself? 

    When you give away equity or take on investment funding, there is always the expectation that people will want to get their money back – and then some. There are people that build apps purely for the opportunity to sell it for big bucks some time in the future. This business model generally involves large-scale investment up-front with a view of not making any profit in the short-term (think of any large online platform, and chances are this is how they’ve done it). Investors and founders make their money on the sale of the product (or going public on a stock exchange).

    If you want to build your app purely to supplement or replace an existing salary, then you want to find an option that involves business partner(s) that have the same goals as you do, or you outsource to a freelancer or developer.

    Do you know anyone personally or through a friend or acquaintance that might fit the bill in any of the above categories?

    By far, the easiest way to find a developer is through a referral – either someone you know personally or someone that has a good reference from someone you know and respect. Like anyone that you might hire for your business, trust is an important part of the equation and if you can find someone you trust through your own network, it makes things a lot easier.

    There’s a caveat here – don’t trust blindly! The developer may be good at what they do, but they may not have any experience in your domain or industry. The person you know may have had good results with a developer, but others might not have. Do your due diligence to make sure that the referral or recommendation is the right choice for your project.    

    Who will make a better long-term partner?

    Knowing someone may not be enough of a reason to hire them. Building and running a platform or app is an on-going process. As I explained in Part 4 of my series on product and software development, your product will change and evolve over time. You’ll also have ongoing maintenance and support issues to deal with. This means that ideally, your developer is in it for the long haul. You want someone that isn’t just attracted to the shiny, new platform or app you want to build. This someone needs to stick around after it’s been built. There are so many stories of developers that become unresponsive after the initial launch – mainly because they want to get onto the next shiny project. It’s not always easy to find the right developer though – generally, most will already be taken by the high-paying startups or they work in large corporations.  

    Where does that leave you?!

    You most likely won’t be able to afford to hire a developer in a permanent role and if you want to retain control of your business, then most of the equity options are out. This means you’re left with finding a tech co-founder, using a freelancer or an agency.  

    There is no “best” option here. A lot will depend on the person or agency that you choose – and there can be lots of variation in quality between them. Choose carefully as picking the right developer is an important factor in the success of your development project (check out my tips article for other factors). 

    To wrap up, if you’re looking to build a web/online platform or mobile app and you can’t code, then you’ve got to put together your own development team. There are several options for doing this and you’ll have to decide which is best for you based on your circumstances.

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